Tesco Corporate Culture and Team Working - Assignment Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Human Resource Management Course: Tesco Corporate culture and Team working Introduction Corporate culture refers to the unwritten codes of values and ethics that direct the behavior and attitudes of workers, the decision making of management, and the leadership style. Team working entails incorporated system of working that involves people working in groups. Tesco is renowned as a leading food retailer in Britain. It was launched in 1919 in East London. It grew from a mere market stall to having 2200 stores and 285,000 employees in the UK alone. The company has comfortably advanced its brand to non-food sector and stocks home entertainment and electrical goods, clothing, sports equipment, toys and even furnishing and lighting in its larger stores (Stanford, 2011). Non-food goods are bought on regular basis. The success of the company is engraved in its corporate culture which dictates the path to be followed by the members of the Tesco family. The culture at Tesco is one of fresh thinking and creativity, with room for challenge convention and being encouraged to take on responsibility. The core purpose of the company is creation of value for customers and targeting to gain their lifetime loyalty. Refreshingly honest, surprisingly simple, and yet unbelievably powerful; everything carried out in the company is driven by the customers. The goal of the company is reflecting people who services are being provided to, and be a mirror of the needs and skills of workers who are recruited at Tesco. The company encourages working environments that are flexible and supports job-sharing and part-time occupation where they are applicable. The core purpose of Tesco is the creation of value for customers with the aim of earning their lifetime loyalty (Hofstede, 2001). The company is friendly to its staff and promotes personal development as well as recognizing talent. Workers are assured of their career growth at Tesco. It is stressed that the success of the company is the direct function of the people that work and shop at Tesco. The company understands that if customers love what is being offered, then their likelihood of coming back is very high. Therefore, the company strives to offer the best service and shopping experience to its customers. If the working teams at Tesco finds want they do as rewarding, they are motivated to exert themselves to offer the best service to the customers. The company provides avenues for growth in one’s career equally without discrimination (Gill, 2006). Training programs have been put up for every function and level, and this enhances qualification studies while one is still working. Many people have grown from being mere management trainees to occupying executive positions at Tesco even to the level of Chief Executive Officer. A successful career path can be attained at Tesco and job satisfaction is achieved since talent and dedicated work is rewarded. Every worker is supported to achieve his objective in career growth. Cross culture awareness courses are provided in order to equip the workers to be posted in diverse working environments (Dlabay, Scott & Scott, 2010). A graduate training program established by the company allows it to train workers and management trainees to fit in the prevailing culture. Hofstede portrays cultures in the computer language like mental programming, which refer to programs which help people feel, behave, and think. Culture distinguishes members of one group from the other. Hofstede work includes power distance, time orientation, and individualism-collectivism. At Tesco collectivism is encouraged as team work and sharing of information is encouraged. Members are trained to realize the power distance and time orientations that exist in different country where Tesco operates. This way they are able to adapt within the shortest time possible. The knowledge of Hofstede culture classification helps the company to operate in different countries and understand people living there (Hofstede, 2001). Power distance defines how members relate to each other. Tesco has low power distance hence workers they are treated equally as team work is encouraged. Time orientation takes monochromic time patterns as members of Tesco are focused on the future and anticipating to accomplish the organizational goals of Tesco. Challenging and flexible work environments make working with Tesco interesting. Each store at Tesco is run like business own its own. It reflects the features of being fast-moving, busy, high-achieving, and a high-rewards business that has many workers who are dedicated to providing the best services to customers. The company encourages supporting one another through sharing of knowledge, team working, enjoying work, and celebrating when it is deemed fit. The staff members are listened to, just as is the case with customers (Marr, 2010). At Tesco several things are offered that include an opportunity to get on, an interesting job, a manager who assists, and everyone is treated with respect. The three little words that promote culture at Tesco are Better, Simpler, and Cheaper. It is better for the customers through assisting them with their shopping experience and hence encourages repeat purchases. Tesco management team ensures that stores deliver customer-driven and crucial values that have delivered the success story of the company. It is a simple and challenging philosophy which integrates every part of the business. This is referred to as Every Little Helps and it is at the heart of all stores of the company (Dávila, Epstein & Manzoni, 2012). The company is customer-driven and leadership does not involve just sitting in an office giving out instruction. Even the managers take part in the work on the ground and are actively involved in the running of the stores. Teams work together in the evenings to ensure every shelf is stocked and the store is ready for the next day. Everyone does his fare share of the work and the experience gained is vital for career development in the company. Recommendation Tesco management has to carry out in-depth research on hours of working so that the workers are not overworked and provide avenues for recreations and games which discourage boredom, high worker turnover, and enhance creativity and job satisfaction. Recreation avenues have to be provided for workers. Workers have to be given opportunity to explore activities that are sometimes not work-related. Innovativeness and brainstorming can be achieved through outside work activities. The company could be straining its workers without knowing. Research will provide information on how workers have to be treated in order for them to be productive to the company. Personal needs of the workers have to be addressed. Human resources are important for the growth of the company and hence every effort has to be made to retain workers who are productive and show unrelenting will to progress in their career path. Commitment to corporate culture can help a company to have a competitive advantage in a competitive market. Tesco is fully aware the reality of competition and everything is being done to retain customers and attract new ones. Any form of complacency will lead to the company trailing its competitors in regard to sales volume and customer base. Bad debts and credit lending has affected the financial performance of the company this year. Tesco has to review is customer relationship to avoid huge debts that may plunge it into oblivion. Conclusion Tesco has a long history that dates back to the twentieth century. Commitment of workers and the zeal of management to adhere to the corporate culture of the company has enhanced growth of the company its current state. Team working and a well-defined corporate culture can lead to the realization of the corporate goals and objective of the company. The company has invested heavily in research and training in order to get the desired class of workers. Sharing ideas is encouraged in the company. There is still room for improvement for the company. Bibliography Dávila, A., Epstein, MJ. & Manzoni, JF 2012, Performance Measurement and Management Control: Global Issues, Emerald Group Publishing, Melbourne. Dlabay, R.L., Scott, J. & Scott, JC 2010, International Business, Cengage Learning, New Jersey. Gill, R 2006, Theory and Practice of Leadership, SAGE, Hague. Hofstede, GH, 2001, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations, Sage Publications, Hague. Stanford, N 2011, Corporate Culture: Getting It Right, John Wiley & Sons, New York. Marr, B 2010, The Intelligent Company: Five Steps to Success with Evidence-Based Management, John Wiley & Sons, New York. Read More